In an interview on the Club Shay Shay podcast, hosted by Shannon Sharpe, 21 Savage explains his feud with Jeezy and how much Gucci Mane influenced him. This influence shaped his perception of Young Jeezy and subsequently led to their feud.
The feud between 21 Savage and Young Jeezy dates back to as early as 2005 when Gucci Mane, who at the time served as a great inspiration to 21 Savage and whom he admired as a bigger figure in the hip-hop industry, often represented hip-hop in Atlanta on the East Side in his music. Gucci, at the time, had beef with Young Jeezy over some personal and professional issues.
Originating over Gucci Mane’s collaboration on Icy with Jeezy, the feud further escalated to physical violence, where a friend or associate of Jeezy was k**lled in self-defense by Gucci Mane. This greatly affected their relationship, including 21 Savage, who sided with Gucci Mane.
21 Savage even hosted a watch party where he openly admitted to hating on Jeezy while rapping to Gucci Mane’s songs.
Since Gucci Mane served as a godfather and mentor to 21 Savage at the time, he influenced his perception of Young Jeezy, especially since 21 Savage was still struggling to gain ground in his music career.
He unconsciously inherited this beef with Young Jeezy, which had been going on for years because it was but ‘normal’ to hate the people the person you’re looking up to hates. 21 Savage said:
“Growing up on the East Side, Gucci made me hate Young Jeezy as a child. I used to really be like, ‘Man, f**k Jeezy.’ I’m from the East Side,”
21 Savage said on Club Shay Shay.
As time went by and 21 Savage gained more ground in the music scene, his courage and inherited grudges for Young Jeezy grew even bigger, leading to both [Young Jeezy and 21 Savage] engaging in a series of disses and jabs, releasing diss tracks, and not missing opportunities in interviews to subtly shade each other.
Although Young Jeezy was a bit reluctant to engage in the beef, as he never saw any reason to beef with 21 Savage since he didn’t have any personal issue with him to begin with.
Gucci Mane and Jeezy eventually quashed their beef at the end of the Verzuz rap battle by performing their song Icy together, proving they had squashed their beef and no longer harbored grudges against each other in November 2020, marking a new beginning for them.
